Housing Minister Nick Smith is accusing Labour of immaturity after they hijacked his urgent changes to housing policy.

Prime Minister John Key says he will back the Reserve Bank to introduce further controls on housing demand if house prices continue to rise.

Nikki Kaye entered Parliament in 2008 as the National Party's first-ever Auckland Central MP, claiming an electorate which had been held by left-leaning parties for 90 years.

Pacific MPs are coming under pressure from former All Blacks to vote against changes to Easter trading laws.

If you're the Prime Minister of New Zealand it turns out to be hundreds.

After locking in its long-term climate change target, National is seeking a cross-party approach to the issue for the first time.

"It is very small, but it is quality,' says the National MP promoting a trivial law change.

Labour wants changes to spying reforms before it will support them, including a broader oversight committee.

National is preparing for immigration to become a major election issue.

Landbankers could have property seized by the Government if the land is within certain areas marked for housing development. Housing

Serious social imbalances take shine off good performances in polls and economy.

Halfway through the third term, National remain in a strong position. Audrey Young assesses key rivalries and what Labour needs to do in next 18 months.

COMMENT: It is not often that the big surprise in a Budget is something that will not be in it at all.

When the PM's personal lawyer approached him about a report in the Herald that Inland Revenue was changing its attitude to foreign trust funds, John Key says he told him to "go and see the [revenue] minister".

Not so long ago, when trying to capitalise on Labour's campaign against housebuyers with Chinese-sounding surnames, John Key did not believe any measure was warranted, writes Claire Trevett.

John Key was the star guest at a private fundraising lunch for Change the Flag lobby group in a last-ditch bid to raise cash from wealthy Chinese donors.

COMMENT: Key and Kitteridge owe us all, and NZ Muslim women especially, an apology.

Eight Mile Style LLC and Martin Affiliated LLC, publishers of Eminem's copyrights, accused the party of using backing music to the rapper's song Lose Yourself.

The longer a Government goes on, the more it needs to minimise the fronts on which it can be attacked, writes Audrey Young.

Murray McCully, National's influential backroom strategist for decades, will not stand for re-election. He tells Claire Trevett he's not dead yet.

The National Government will today ignore widespread opposition from ordinary New Zealanders when it signs the secretly negotiated deal, writes Jane Kelsey.

National has finished the first year of its third term in as strong a position as it was a year ago, according to the latest Herald-DigiPoll survey.

COMMENT: Yes, she has a Machiavellian style, but that hardly disqualifies her for high political office, writes Audrey Young.

Reinstated Cabinet minister Judith Collins says a year on the backbench has given her more confidence and she is looking forward to sorting out the Serco debacle as the new Corrections Minister.

Spare a penny for the poor? This time around, the poor in question are not the homeless or the children, but the MPs themselves, writes Claire Trevett.

COMMENT: The PM's attitude might not be fashionable, but he is about old-fashioned values, teaching women to be seen and not heard, writes Paul Little.

It bemuses me the way the major political parties go to so much trouble to disguise their interest in running Auckland Council, Brian Rudman writes.

Serial litigant Graham McCready filed papers with the Human Rights Review Tribunal in May after an attempt at a private prosecution of Mr Key failed.